Rotary engine.



L E KEIL. ROTARY ENGINE. MPPLICATION FILED NOV- 5. 1911- F0 1 9 1 0 2 r p A m .w m a P.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

L. E. KEIL.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION man NOV- 6. m1.

hmfifim; V r Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

L. E. KEIL.

ROTARY ENGINE. AFFL'i'cATIoN FILED MW. e, 19H.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

F t 'imcv [mu elder di gy-1M Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

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LEWIS 1E. KEIL, OF ST. PAUL, MINNES OTA.

ROTARY ENGINE.

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specification of Letters Patent. I

PatentedApr. 2o, rats.

Application filed November 6, 1911. Serial No. 658,767.

Be it known that I, LEWIS ERNEST KEIL, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Rotar Engine, of which the following is a speci cation.

My invention relates to improvements in rotary engines in which pistons on a revolving drum operate in conjunction with a casing and rotary abutments, and more particularly to that type of rotary engine embodying a concentric piston drum carrying pistons, and movable abutments for closing the chamber behind each piston after the latter has passed the abutment.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide rotary abutments which will revolve continuously without interfering with the pistons; second, to provide rotary abutments of such shape that pistons shaped in front elevation similar to segments of circles or segments of ellipses may be used; third, to provide mechanism which Will impart rotary motion to the. rotary abutments; fourth, to provide rotary abutment bushings for the rotary abutments to journal in; fifth, to provide valve ports and passages or ducts in the rotary abutments and the rotary abutment bushings for the passage therethrough of vapor or liquid; and. sixth, to form valves between variable-volume chambers, other chambers in the engine or the external atmosphere as desired, by the combination of rotary abutments and rotary abutment bushings. I at tain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the engine; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section through the engine, and Fig. 3, a vertical cross section through'the engine.

Similarv letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The engine casing A A forms the framework of the engine to which are secured the shaft bearings a a. The shaft Z is j ournaled in the shaft bearings a a and has secured to it the piston drum F which carries the pistons G G. Secured also to the shaft Z is the spur gear X which drives the pinions Y Y secured to the rotary abutments B and G. The rotary abutments B and C are journaled in rotary abutment bushings D and E which are fitted into the engine casing A A carry any number of pistons is applied to the side faces of drum as shown in Figs. 2 and 3,

and combine with the rotary abutments B and C to form valves in the engine.

In the preferred construction, the-engine caslng A A conforms substantiallyto the shape shown in theaccompanying drawings, although, provided that the interior shape IS maintained, the remainder may be altered to suit conditions.

The shaft Z and the bearings a a may be of any suitable design.

he piston drum F, in the preferred construction, is in' shape substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings and may G G, although but four are shown. Piston drum packing the piston the piston drum packing being designated by'the letter Thepiston drum F carries pistons G G' perlpheries as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the

piston packing being designated by the letter U. The pistons G G may be mounted upon or made integral with the piston drum F, in the preferred construction they are integral with the piston drum.

The spur gear F and the pinions Y Y may be of any suitable design.

The rotary abutment B is of cylindrical shape, is journaled in the rotary abutment bushing D, is adapted to make rolling contact with the periphery of the piston drum F, contains a cavity 1) through which the pistons G G on the piston drum F may pass, contains a passage or duct 0 which cooperates with a passage or duct N in the rotary abutment bushing D to allow the passage therethrough of vapor or liquid, and is caused to revolve by the pinion Y which is secured to the rotary abutment B and meshes with the spur gear X.

The rotary abutment (J is substantially the same as the rotary that the passage or duct 0 is omitted.

The rotary abutment bushing D is of hollow cylindrical shape, is fitted into the engine casing A A, is cut away for a portion of its length to conform to the interior contour of thesaid engine casing A A, contains a passage or duct N which cooperates with the passage or duct 0 in the rotary abutment B to allow the passage of vapor or liquid, is for the purpose of forming abutment B, except, we

a journal bearing for the rotary abutment B and is also for the purpose of combinmg with the said rotary abutment B for the purv pose of forming a valve in the. engine The rotary abutment bushing E 1s substantially the same as the rotary abutment bushing D, except that it does not contain a'passage or ductsimilar to the passage or duct N, and it forms a journal bearing for the rotary abutment C to revolve in.

While the accompanying drawings show but one each of the'rotary abutments B and C and the rotary abutment bushings D and plurality of same may be used if desired.

The cavities b in the rotary abutments B and C must be substantially of the shape the cavity o in either of the rotary abut- 'Z, to revolve.

ments B or 0 must conform to the arc of the circle'which is described by the extremity of a piston G within the circumference of the rotary abutment B or C, while the said rotary abutment and piston drum are each revolving at their respective rates of speed and their peripheries are tangent.

The passage or duct 0 in the rotary abutment B extends from an opening on the surface of the cavity 6 in the rotary abutment B to an opening on the surface of the cylindrical portion of the said rotary abutment, which opening lies outside of and remote from the aforesaid cavity b. Iihis passage 0 is for the admission therethrough of vapor or liquid into the cavity 6, or for the exit therethrough from the cavity 6 of vapor or liqlIi id.

he passage or duct N in the rotary abut ment bushing D cooperates with the passage or duct 0 in the rotary abutment B, to establish or break, interrupt or close a passage extending from the cavity b in the rotary abutment B to other chambers in the engine or to the outer atmosphere as desired, for the passage of vapor or liquid. This combination of the said passages O and N, is to form a valve.

The spark plug Q is for the purpose of igniting explosive vapor in internal combustion engines and forms no part of my present improvement.

The operation of the'engine is as follows: The shaft Z is caused to revolve, it in turn causes the piston drum F and the spur gear X, both of which are secured to said shaft The pinions Y Y which enmesh with the spur gear X are caused to revolve and they in'tu'rn cause the rotary abutments B- and C, to which they are secured, to revolve. The rotary abutments B and C are located in the engine so that their peripheries are tangent to the periphery of the piston drum, and, when the engine is in operation, they roll upon the said periphery of the piston drum F. This rolling motion of the rotary abutments B and (l upon the periphery of the piston drum F is made positive by the operation of the spur gear X and the pinions Y Y as previously described.

The cavities b b in the rotary abutments B and C are located in the aforesaid rotary abutments so that the pistons G G carried by the piston drum F will pass through them.

A piston G passes through the cavity 6 in the rotary abutment C and moves away from the said rotary abutment G in the direction indicated by the arrow shown in- Fig. 2, the rotary abutment C closes behind the said piston G, and, as the piston G passes the port I in the wall of the casing A, vapor -or liquid will be drawn into the chamber J through the pipe H, the chamber 6 and the port I. As the piston drum.continues to revolve, the vapor or liquid in the chamber J will be carried on between the two pistons G and G into the chamber K; the leading piston G will pass through the cavity 1) in the rotary abutment B; the following piston G will approach the rotary abutment B; and the vapor or liquid in the chamber K will be caused to pass through the'check valve 'L into the compression chamber M. At the proper moment the passages N and O, hereinbefore described, will cooperate to establish a passage extending from the chamber M to the cavity b in the rotary abutment B and the vapor or liquid trapped in the chamber M will pass into the chamber P; wherein, after the passage, formed by the cooperation of the pasages N and O, is closed, the said vapor or liquid will be expanded by the action of the piston G in moving away from the rotary abutment B. As the succeeding piston G passes through the cavity b in the rotary abutment B, the

expanded vapor or liquid in the chamber P will becarried on between the two pistons G and G into the chamber R; from which, after the leading piston G has passed through the cavity 6 in the rotar abutment O, the said vapor or liquid will e expelled through the port S, the chamber 6 and the pipe T by the action of the following piston G in approaching the rotary abutment C, thus reducing the volume of the chamber R.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principles of operation of my invention together with the appa: ratus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the construction maenea having an impelling element adapted to revolve in said passage, abutments movable to intercept said passage, a valved compression chamber communicating with said passage through one of said abutments and adapted to transfer a compressed charge of impelling medium from in front of an impelling element to the back side of an impelling element in position to urge an impelling element forward, and means charge of fuel after it has been transferred to a position in which when ignitedit is adapted to urge an impelling element forward, said casing being formed with ingress and egress ports for the admission of fuel and the exhaust of spent gases, said admission port being arranged to admit a fuel charge into said passage in position to be compressed by an impelling element.

2. A rotary engine, comprising, in combination, a casing forming an annular chamber, having fuel and exhaust ports, a rotor in said casing having impelling elements revoluble in said passage, rotary abutments adapted to intercept said passage and coacting with said impelling elements to form compression and combustion chambers in said passage, a by-passage leading through one of said abutments and forming a communication between the com ression and combustion chambers, means for revolving the abutment through which said communifor ignlting acation is established in synchronism' with the revolution of said rotor to intercept said communication after a compressed charge of fuel has been transferred lnto the combustion chamber and means for igniting the fuel charge after it has been transferred into the combustion chamber in position to urge an impelling element forward.

3. A rotary engine comprising, in combination, a casing, a rotor within said casing and forming therewith an annular chamber, a series of spaced impelling elements carried by said rotor and dividing the chamber into compartments, a compression chamber to receive the fluid from one compartment and to deliver it into another compartment, said compression chamber having an outlet passage, a rotating abutment having a passage therethrough and co-acting with the outlet passage in said compression chamber to time the delivery of the fluid from the compression chamber, means for igniting the delflivered fluid, and an exhaust for the spent uid.

4. A rotary engine comprising, in combination, a casing, a rotor within said casing and forming therewith an annular chamber, a series of impelling elements carried by said rotor and dividing the chamber into compartments, an inlet for admitting impelling fluid to said compartments, a compression chamber having an outlet passage, a rotating abutment provided with an opening therethrough and actuated by said rotor to intermittently aline the opening with the outlet passage in said compression chamber to time the delivery of the fluid therefrom, means for igniting the delivered fluid, and an exhaust for the spent fluid.

- LEWIS E. KEIL.

Witnesses:

EDNA LORENA KEIL, CnARrnsH. WARE. 

